25 Auckland Council candidates have signed the ratepayers protection pledge

The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance has released the list of candidates who have signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, which prevents those candidates from voting for any measures which increase the total average burden of rates, levies, and other compulsory Council charges, more than 2% per annum.

To date, 25 candidates have agreed to sign the pledge. Those who have agreed to keep levy or rate hikes under 2% include all Communities and Residents candidates, and four mayoral candidates.

Although Auckland Future candidates have confirmed that they will not be signing our pledge, they insist that their own pledge achieves the same outcomes. Albany candidate Lisa Whyte said their pledge is ‘complementary to yours’ and that they are ‘committed to the same values’. Whilst disappointed Auckland Future candidates are not signing, we anticipate them holding fast to their assurances that they will limit annual rates increases to an average of no more than 2% and honour their own pledge.

We are delighted with the response from Council candidates. The 25 candidates that have signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge alongside Auckland Future’s 10 candidates is more than enough to fill the Council with candidates who have agreed to reset Auckland Council’s culture of waste and high rates.

So Aucklanders, you have the ability to control your own destiny. Simply only vote for the 35 candidates who have pledged not to increase rates beyond 2%, and your rates won’t increase by more than 2%. No more 10% rates increases. But if you vote for other candidates, well don’t be surprised when you get walloped with larger and larger rates increases.

List of candidates who are on board:

Mayoral

Mark Thomas

John Palino

Stan Martin

Binh Thanh Nguyen

Councillors

Albany Ward

John Watson

Wayne Walker

Albert-Eden-Roskill

Christine Fletcher

Benjamin Lee

Greg McKeown

Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor

Howick

Dick Quax

Sharon Stewart

Ian Colin Ireland

North Shore

Grant Gillon

John Hill

Orakei

Desley Simpson

Rodney

Greg Sayers

Steven Garner

Holly Southernwood

Waitakere

John Riddell

David Rankin

Waitematā and Gulf

Mike Lee

Bill Ralston

Rob Thomas

Whau

Anne Degia-Pala

Duncan MacDonald

As I understand it both Victoria Crone and Auckland Future candidates also have policy to not support rates increases of more than 2%, so they are also worth supporting.

So for Mayor you have four candidates who have signed the pledge (John Palino, Mark Thomas and two others) plus Victoria Crone has a policy of a maximum 2% average also and Phil Goff a policy of 2.5% maximum.

In some wards there are more candidates who have signed the pledge (or have a policy the same) than positions so to choose between them look at their other policies and track record.

But again if you want a Council that will not see ratepayers at a bottomless pit, then vote for candidates who are prepared to specify their maximum rates increase they’ll vote for.

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Comments (23)

billmurray

Auckland Future candidates are playing the shyster game: “Its our own pledge”, and of course that means “we have the power to modify our own pledge”.
If it is similar to the ratepayers pledge why do they not sign both??????.

RalphT

More important than this, we need a list of candidates who will force the council to open the books in relation to contracts. Do KBers in Auckland know if there are any such candidates deserving of the public’s support?

The only worthwhile pledge is to demand them to sign an undated letter of resignation to be dated and enacted the minute ANY rate demand exceeds to current rate of inflation.
Keep their feet to the fire the blowtouch down their Y fronts and a foot on their throat and all at the same time.

Both Albany councillors either voted for the last round of hikes or are willing to approve unbudgeted expenditures (such as the rainbow advisory rort). So the fact they have signed up, and get the promotion, undermines this. Its a shame the Ratepayers Alliance has allowed this to be degraded.

andrewcarrot

Hold on! Didn’t Christine Fletcher, ex-Auckland Mayor and National MP, vote in favour of Len’s 9.9% rate increase, then a week later deny that she understood what she was voting for, and who now supports a 2% or less rate limit? What’s it to be? Can we rely on that sort of councillor to keep the next mayor’s grandiosity under control? Given the shambolic campaign being run by Vic Crone, and her brains-trust of Nicki Kaye, Michelle Boag, Sue Wood and Paul Goldsmith (God, there’s are fossil record and a half in that lot), and the woefully under-resourced Palino and Thomas teams, what hope is there that right aligned Aucklanders can stop Goff from raising existing Council debt to the stratosphere? At the moment, none.

That’s stupid. If you live in a city where everything costs heaps, then you should pay for it through rates. If you want good roads, it will cost. If you want houses, they will cost, both in the building and the purchasing of them. Much of the infrastructure is ageing and built for a much smaller population. Booms come at a cost, and the cost will be much larger than inflation. I have no sympathy for those who want to live in Auckland but don’t want to pay the cost. Limiting rates rises to 2% with allow the infrastructure to crumble even further. Power blackouts, traffic lockups and other infrastructure issues will become more and more common. If rates rises are restricted to 2%, we might as well build a wall around the place and let it go to hell in its own way.

Broken record from me – but John Palino is the only candidate worth his salt – I would be greatful if he got the job – only I do think deserves better than that. A shame he didn’t go for councillor where he could have a better effect.

This just goes to show how fu*ked up local body politics is in Auckland. Wayne Walker is a communist, as is Grant Gillon. There’s no way while my arse points to the ground that they give a monkeys razoo about rates rises. Anyone who looks at this list as some type of indicator of who to vote for is beyond stupid. It’s meaningless drivel, and should be treated as such.